Royals, Reds had deal in place for Johnny Cueto; fell through

The Royals and Reds had a trade in place that would send Johnny Cueto to Kansas City last night, reports Jon Morosi and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. However, the deal fell through at the last minute. 

Rosenthal notes that a player going from the Royals to the Reds did not check out medically, causing the entire deal to fall apart as it was being finalized. 

According toChris Cotillo of SB Nation's MLB Daily Dish, the Reds warmed up Michael Lorenzen to pitch before the game in case a Cueto trade was finalized. Cotillo also reported that Lorenzen was warming up as "insurance," as Reds players were not told Cueto was being moved. 

"I was warming up and he was there in the bullpen and I told him, 'What are you doing here?' He told me, 'I'm going to pitch because you're going to get traded.' That happened 10 minutes before the game," Cueto said through translator Tomas Vera (via MLB.com's Mark Sheldon).

Cueto then went to pitch and threw eight shutout innings against the Colorado Rockies. 

The Royals and Reds "continue to work" on the deal despite the hiccup, reports Jim Bowden of ESPN. 

--Devan Fink

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